


Wildflower

by Trisdani



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: 5 Seconds of Summer - Freeform, 5SOS - Freeform, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:40:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 12,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23431069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trisdani/pseuds/Trisdani
Summary: "You know you are my favorite fantasy." In which Ashton finds himself in a situation where he's going to have to trust the stranger knocking on his car window.
Relationships: Ashton Irwin/Original Character(s)
Kudos: 13





	1. Chapter 1

“This can't be happening right now,” Ashton sighed, pushing down the hood of his car with a ‘thud’. He slammed his hand on the vehicle with so much force that he was a bit surprised at how it didn’t dent.

He dug out his phone and called Calum, hoping that he wasn’t too far away already. The phone rang for a few times before it went dead and his friend's voicemail began to play. “You’ve reached Calum’s voicemail! If I didn’t pick up, then I’m either busy ignoring you or I have no idea who this is and I’m avoiding telemarketers!”

“Cal, please pick up. I need your help to jumpstart my car, the battery died and I’m barely halfway home,” Ashton spoke, looking out at the long dead road in front him. “Soon would be lovely.” And so he sat in his dead car, watching the sun slowly fall. 

His phone rang and he jolted up, not realizing that he had somehow dozed off in the time that he’s been sitting there. He picked up his phone and read Calum’s name from the caller I.D.

“Hello? Cal?” Ashton said. “I need help— uh Calum?” He sat up straighter and listened to his friend's voice cut in and out. He pulled the phone away from his ear and checked to see that he was currently balancing between one bar and no signal. 

He opened his door and raised his phone up in the sky, like they did in the movies, to get a better signal. “I still can’t hear you…” he watched the bar flicker down to no signal and it was decided that he wasn’t contacting anyone soon.

“Well shit.” He threw his phone down on this passenger seat and put his hands on his face. This was not how the day was supposed to go.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a dull knock that woke Ashton up from his uncomfortable sleep in his car. The second to third knock was the one that got him to sit up. He rubbed his eyes and looked over to the window. Flinching when he saw a girl looking at him with a worried expression.

Ashton knew better than to roll down his window. So he just rubbed his eyes more to see if he was having some weird hallucination or there really was some girl out there. 

“Are you alright?” She spoke loud enough to be heard through the glass. “Do you need money for a motel?”

Ashton shook his head. He then looked to his side mirror and noticed that another car was parked behind his, most likely hers. He had an idea which was possibly not the most safest. And since he couldn’t call for any road service to help him out, he’d have to risk it.

He rolled down the window and smiled nervously at her. “Hi, my car battery died and I need to jumpstart it so I can go home. Do you mind?”

The girl smiled and shook her head. “No of course not,” she said, “I’ll bring mine up, I have cables in the trunk too.” She walked away as Ashton watched her make her way back to her car. She turned it so the two bumpers were facing one another. 

Ashton took a deep breath and got out of the car. He popped the hood as the girl came out with some jumper cables in hand. “Have you done this before?” He asked as she immediately started putting the red clamp on the batteries. 

“Huh?” She looked up at him and looked back down. “No, helping out strangers on the side of the road is just a hobby of mine,” she chuckled. He watched her easily clamp the wires on the parts, wondering if he should offer to help. “Alright, try to start it,” she said, eyes fixed down on the battery.

He went back into his car and turned the key, the engine hummed in response and he sighed in relief. “Thank you so much,” he sighed. He turned the engine off and went back out to help her take the cables off. “If there is any way I can repay you, please say.”

She shook her head and smiled. “No, I know how it is to get stuck in a deserted road. You probably had to go somewhere before this whole mishap, I wouldn’t want to keep you any longer.”

“Wait.” He stopped her in her tracks. What was he doing? Was this really a good idea? Who cares, the girl helped him and he needed to repay her. “Can I give you my number if you think of any favor I can repay you in?”

The girl looked at him confused. “Uh, sure.” She handed him her phone with a blank contact put up. Ashton took it and put his number in with his name. He gave it back and she glanced at it and smiled. “See you later, Ashton.”

“You too…”

“Iris.”

“You too, Iris,” he said, waving goodbye as he went back to his car and got ready to drive home.


	3. Chapter 3

It was noon by the time Ashton got home. He went into his kitchen and immediately looked for some kind of food to make up for his lack of dinner and breakfast. Leftovers would do for now. 

He took his keys and phone out of his pocket and set it on the counter. He plugged his dead phone into the charger and waited for it to come back to life. 

As he chewed on his cold pizza, there was a knock at his door and a few rings of doorbell followed after. He walked over and looked through the peep hole to see his friend, Luke. He opened the door to see his worried friend in full view. “‘ello,” Ashton said, taking another bite of his food.

Luke took a deep breath. “Oh thank god you’re not dead,” he sighed relieved. “Calum said you weren’t picking up your phone so then I tried to call you but you weren’t picking up for me either so Michael just said ‘fuck it, he’s dead’. But obviously you’re not dead cause your standing right here and…” Luke took another breath, looking Ashton up and down, “you look like shit.”

“Well you don’t look like a Miss America yourself,” Ashton counters, knowing that he probably, indeed, looks like shit. He hasn’t changed his clothes since yesterday and a night sleep spent in a car wasn’t the most relaxing. “And I’m good now, I had no service for a while and my phone was dead. Not much I could do there.”

“Right,” Luke said. “So are we gonna talk about why you’re still dressed like you were for the meeting yesterday or are we just going to ignore that?”

Ashton shrugged, “I just got home and I was gonna freshen up after I finished eating.” He opened the door wider and gestured for him to come in. “But now you’re here.”

“I can go if you want—“

“No, you can stay. I’m just gonna go take a quick shower and I’ll be out.” Ashton said, finishing his pizza in one last bite. He closed the door and let Luke in to make himself comfortable while he left to go to his room.

***

“Hey, Ash,” Luke yelled from the other room as Ashton put a clean shirt on, “who’s Iris?”

Ashton froze for a moment. Does he want to tell Luke about his whole night spent sleeping in a car and some random girl helping him out early in the morning? Not really. He walked out and saw Luke leaning over the counter peaking at his friends phone that was now well alive.

“You have a lot of missed calls by the way,” Luke informed him. “On the brightside, people care about you.”

Ashton grabbed his phone and scrolled through the hundreds of missed calls just from Calum and the few from Michael and Luke. He then stopped at a text from an unknown number. 

“Are you free any night for dinner?” Luke said, repeating the text on Ashtons screen. “She wants to cash in a favor? Ashton, I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”

“I’m not.” Ashton turned his phone screen down on the counter. He rubbed his eyes tiredly. “This girl helped me this morning and I owe her favor. Nothing more.”

Luke smirked at his friend. “Alright, sure. We don’t have another meeting with management till next weekend so you should tell her that you’re free every night this week.”

“Any night except tonight,” Ashton yawned, “I’m never going to take my bed for granted again.”

“Right,” Luke chuckled, “well I should head out. And you should call Calum to tell him you’re fine, don’t want him worrying more than he has already.”

“Alright, I’ll do that soon. See ya, mate.”

“Take care!” Luke waved goodbye as he headed out the door. “Oh and goodluck with that girl!” Ashton rolled his eyes and closed the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Ashton felt so much better when he woke up the following day. He was almost tempted not to get out of bed. It was warm, soft, and comfortable; he’d be crazy to get out. But the small heaven only seemed temporary when he was brought back to reality by his phone ringing.

He picked up and answered without reading the contact. “G’morning,” he mumbled, sitting up in bed and stretching out his arms. He stopped mid stretch, eyes wide, “Iris! Hello, good morning!” Ashton stood up feeling awkward and not knowing what to say. 

“Hey?” He heard her laugh on the other line. “I hope I didn’t interrupt anything. You sound like you just woke up.” 

“No, I’ve been up for…” he looks back at the clock sitting on his bedside table displaying about a quarter after ten, “hours? Yeah hours.”

“If you say so, Ashton. Now I don’t know where a good restaurant is that is a reasonable distance between both of us. Do you mind choosing?” She asked hesitantly. Ashton was almost relieved to hear that. As weirdly excited and terrified he was to have dinner with this girl, he was worried that this could be some person's plan of trying to get him to a sketchy restaurant and abduct him. But if he chooses the restaurant, perhaps he can avoid an abduction. “Hello? Uh, did you hang up?” Iris’s voice cut him out of his thoughts.

“Oh, yeah uh, I can send you links to some so you can see if it’s too far or not— or if it’s not too much, I can pick you up if you’d like.” Of course he mentally punched himself, thinking that he might get abducted in his own car. Has anyone told him stranger danger? No. Just a really pretty stranger who helps him and seems like the complete opposite of danger.

The line was quiet for a moment and to his relief she politely denied. “Sorry,” she started off with, “but we just met and if this is a nice dinner, you’ll ask me out and maybe you can pick me up other nights.”

Ashtons brain shut off for a moment or two. “Is tonight a— are we going on a date?” Is that what she’s hinting at? Why does this feel so complicated? 

“Oh yeah, wait this is awkward,” she paused, “you probably have a girlfriend and I sorta just asked you out.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend!” Ashton was quick to assure her. “I’m excited to see how tonight goes, whether it's a date or not, I’m excited.”

“Alright, we’ll see you tonight, Ashton.”

“I look forward to it, Iris.” He ended the call later and looked back over at his bed. As inviting as it looked to go back to sleep, he had a date to get ready for.”


	5. Chapter 5

Picking the restaurant wasn’t as easy as Ashton thought it would be. He would send Iris a link and get the response that it was too expensive or too far away, eventually and somehow Ashton got her to agree on one of the higher end restaurants he picked out. That was how he ended up sitting at a white clothed table with jazz music playing from a small stage in the corner.

He looked over to the front of the restaurant where the hostess was leading a girl, Iris, to the table. He quickly got up and pulled out the chair for her, smiling nervously. He sat back down in his chair to face her, not really realizing how nervous he was until that moment. 

“So…” she started, Ashton couldn’t help but notice that she looked stunning, something that wasn’t easy to see the morning they met. “You like nice,” Iris said, bringing him back to reality.

“I wish I could say the same for you but you look absolutely gorgeous,” Ashton remarked, catching Iris with surprise.

“Oh, so you’re a charmer, huh?” She tilted her head to the side as if to get a better view of him. “Now, how does one go from sleeping in a car to,” she gestured around, “this?”

“Perhaps one wants to impress the pretty girl who helped him?”

Iris was quiet for a moment, wondering how this guy had already made her feel this great so early into the night. “Ashton, we just met. If we’re gonna start flirting, we might as well get to know each other.”

“Of course,” Ashton shrugged, “I enjoy long walks on the beach, I am twenty five years old, a cancer, love dogs…” he began listing things off as he noticed the eye rolls she was sending his way. “Your turn, tell me everything.” He put his chin in his hands as he looked at her.

“I’m not gonna tell you everything, cause I gotta save some stuff for future dates—“

“Oh, so there’s gonna be more,” Ashton cut in.

“It’s rude to interrupt Ashton middle name last name.” Iris said with a straight face that quickly fell when Ashton pouted like a small puppy. 

“Ashton Fletcher Irwin. Now please proceed.”

Iris shook her head, “Iris Marie Haynes. I’m twenty four years old, a sagittarius, and I also love dogs.”

“But do you enjoy long walks on the beach?” Ashton said quizzically.

“I only enjoy them when I’m with the right person,” Iris said, suddenly not letting her eyes leave Ashtons. “I might be free this weekend, if you are.”

Ashton caught one to their small staring contest, “and I might be free as well… except for Saturday I have a meeting in the afternoon. But before that, I think I may be free.”

“So is it a date?” Iris asked.

“It’s a date.” Ashton confirmed.


	6. Chapter 6

Iris felt so relaxed after her dinner with Ashton. She wasn’t expecting to like him as much as she did. His smile melted her heart and his laugh, she wanted to hear that laugh on repeat for as long as she could. 

The effect of that night had followed her to the following morning. Even at work she found herself thinking about the next time they would meet up. Would he have his hair styled in the same slick back way like at dinner? Would he somehow swoop her off her feet once again? All questions that would soon have their answers next weekend.

“Iris, sweetie, please come back down to earth for a moment,” some voice said, unfortunately stopping her thoughts from going further. “You got scheduled for this Saturday.” A folder dropped in front of her.

“Just give me a minute, Kelsie,” Iris sighed. She rubbed her eyes as if she needed to convince herself that she was actually at work at the moment. “Okay, who’s our victim?”

“You look a little out of it. Are you okay?” Kelsie asked.

“I’m a cute girl and I met a cute boy and now I want cute things to happen. So, please, who am I interviewing?”

Kelsie opened the folder and pointed to the bold font at the top of the paper. “5 Seconds of Summer, an Australian pop band that just released a new single called ‘Teeth’. Basically their label just wants to promote the single and you have to ask about any upcoming album or whatever.”

Iris tried her best to not look disappointed. She’s heard of the band but from her perspective, they weren’t very relevant. “Can you find someone else to do it?” She asked, slightly begging. “I’m only familiar with that one song about underwear or something. And didn’t they just disappear after 2014?”

“No, Iris, maybe if you branched out with your music more and stopped listening to the three bands over and over,” Kelsie said, grabbing Iris’ phone as well, “you would actually know something about them.” She handed it back with Spotify pulled up, the new single was ready to be played in just the press of a button. “Research them and listen to the music. Get at least twenty different questions. And last but not least, put on your pretty smile and act like you’re a fan of their music just like every other interview.”

Iris crossed her arms over her chest and looked at Kelsie with an unamused glare. “I will listen to the single and one song of each album. I will be done with the questions by tomorrow. Then by Thursday, I can talk to Lauren and tell her to tweet about your favorite little boy band. Finally, Friday, I get the day off and Saturday morning I can hang out with my cute boy and be back at headquarters for camera tests and makeup.”

“Okay, I get it,” Kelsie said, “and I never said you can have Friday off.”

“Then I get off early on Friday. Either way I’m getting a well deserved break on Friday.”


	7. Chapter 7

Ashton had been texting Iris nonstop. It had gotten to the point where he’d lose track of time and maybe forget where he was. For example, Luke's house.

“Luke told me you had a girlfriend,” Calum said as he appeared behind Ashton. Ashton instinctively faced his phone screen down. He looked at his friend who was leaning on the back of the couch, smiling mischievously. “You were just texting her, huh?” He questioned.

Ashton rolled his eyes, “I have a friend that’s a girl,” he said, “and we’ve only been on one date so I wouldn’t say we’re officially that yet.”

“Mate, a date is a date,” Calum said, “you went on a date with a girl. Like an actual human being.”

“Cal, what are you going on about? I’ve dated before, this isn’t anything new for me.” If this wasn’t anything new for him then why did it feel like he was a teenager falling in love for the first time?

“Okay, but imagine what it’s gonna be like when it’s not only Michael and Luke talking about their relationships?” Calum pointed out. 

“Oh, Ashton, how is Iris?” Luke walked in with a drink in his hand, sitting on the opposite side of the couch.

“Her name is Iris?” Calum asked.

“Wait, who’s Iris?” Michael came in, leaning on the door frame. 

Ashton shifted under the uncomfortable gaze of all his mates looking at him. “She’s a girl that I like, so bugger off.”

“Okay, but you know that we have to meet her at some point right?” Michael said, “gotta make sure she’s worthy for you.”

“You’ll scare her off!” Ashton exclaimed. Before he was about to say anything else, he felt his phone buzz. He looked down and saw a new text from Iris. “I’ll be right back.” He got up and walked to the bathroom. He then got an incoming call from her.

“Hey,” she greeted.

“Hi,” Ashton replied, “how was your day?”

“Boring till I called you.”

Ashton chuckled, “not even a minute into the call and you’re already flirting.”

Iris hummed, “It feels like a second language when I’m with you. Anyways, I have Friday evening off from work, wanna come over to my place?”

“And spend the morning walking on the beach with you? Sounds great,” Ashton said. After a bit of talking they hung up and Ashton felt even more excited to see her on Friday.


	8. Chapter 8

“When you asked me to come over, I imagined us actually doing something. Not you laying on top of me and clicking away on your computer,” Ashton says as he's watching Iris’ eyes move as she reads the word on her screen.

“I need to finish some work stuff before we can do something.” She glanced at him and felt guilty about not finishing earlier. She definitely underestimated the workload she would have for this interview. “I’m sorry for making you wait like this.”

“You’re fine, I at least have an excuse to stare at your beautiful face.” He reached out and pushed a strand of hair out her face, letting his hand linger a little longer by her chin.

“I’ve lost track of how many times you made me blush so far,” she laughed, pushing away his hand. After about a minute of silence Iris came across a picture on the computer that almost made her do a double take. She looked at Ashton, who she had her legs laid across on, and back at the picture on the screen. Either she was an idiot who didn’t even bother to look at the band members till now or she was an idiot who didn’t bother to look at the band members till now. There ‘Ashton Irwin’, the drummer of 5sos, displayed on google and her couch.

“Ashton?” She asked carefully, still looking back and forth at the pictures like she was still not convinced it was him. “Are you in a band?”

Ashton looked over at her and cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, why?” He asked.

She breathed in slowly, taking it in. So she was going to interview her, hopefully, her future boyfriend’s band tomorrow and she had to ask questions about upcoming music and act like she’s a great fan but never listened to them till that week. Great. Easy. Simple. “I’m interviewing your band tomorrow,” she said, responding to him.

Ashton was silent for a moment or two before he spoke up. “So you’re an interviewer?”

“Journalist is the more professional name,” Iris corrected, “but yeah, interviewing is a pretty big part of my job. This is weird.”

“Weird for who? I find this as another excuse to see you,” Ashton says.

“I’m researching your band,” Iris points out, “meaning that tomorrow I have to act like I’m actually a fan of your work and know about your band.”

Ashton chuckled, “well as someone who is actually in the band, I can help you research.” Iris shook her head and looked back down at her computer. “Hey, c’mon,” Ashton said, “if I help you finish this, then we can go do something fun.”

“Okay,” Iris sighed, “but only because I want to know what your definition of fun is.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Iris, at least turn the alarm off if you’re going to repeatedly hit snooze,” Ashton mumbled. His arm was over his eyes to block out the creeping sun. The other arm had been wrapped around the girl beside him.

Iris groaned and grabbed her phone off of the bedside table and turned it off for what Ashton hoped to be longer than nine minutes. “We need to get up at some point,” she said, inching closer to him.

Ashton turned on his side to be met face to face. At this point their noses were just barely touching. “I’m tired though. Why didn't we sleep last night. That was a horrible idea.”

Iris giggled, “I’m sorry that I lost track of the time, yeesh. But I wouldn’t trade last night for sleeping if I had the choice.”

Ashton smiled and slowly reached to hold her hand. “I don’t think I’d stay up that late talking to anyone but you,” he said.

She hummed, moving a curl that was hanging over Ashtons eyes to the side. “Have I mentioned you’re cute?” She asked as if she hadn't said the same thing at least a hundred times before. 

“Probably not as many times that I’ve mentioned that you were beautiful,” he responded.

Iris sighed, there were so many things she wanted to say to him. Some things like asking what they were to each other. She wanted to know if he was feeling the same thing she was feeling.

“You okay?” Ashton asked, his eyes softening a bit.

Iris dismissed the thoughts racing in her brain and nodded. “Yeah, I was just thinking.”

“Thinking about?”

“You,” Iris said, “ and me. Us together. What are we?” 

She looked at Ashton as he looked straight back at her. He purses his lips together thinking for a moment or two. Iris had wondered for a second that she just ruined everything until he moved closer to her and pressed his lips onto hers. He held them there for a few seconds before moving his head back. “Does that count as an answer?” He asked.

Iris was frozen, as if he stole her breath in that short kiss, she couldn’t think of enough things to say. “I— you— do you mind repeating that? I don’t think I understood the first time.”

“Gladly,” he whispered. He got close but Iris met him halfway. At first Ashton thought it was going to be a quick peck on the lips, but in a few short seconds he had hands going through his hair and their lips not seeming to want to let go. 

He reached to cup her face but as he was about to pull her closer than she already was, the alarm started to ring.


	10. Chapter 10

“I could make breakfast if you’re not in a hurry,” Iris said. She was leaning over the kitchen counter, watching Ashton slip his shoes on. Things were moving fast for them but she didn’t really mind, she was happy to be with him.

He pulled his phone out to check the time. “I should head back to my place soon to change. Gotta look nice for the interview,” he said, looking up at her.

Iris nodded, “I get it. Gotta look presentable for the interviewer. I heard she’s a real bitch if you don’t look nice.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” he chuckled. He stood up and walked over to her, “do I get a goodbye kiss?”

“C’mere.” She grinned. She hooked her arms over Ashtons neck and pulled him down into a deep kiss. It was a repeat of earlier, knowing that something about this just felt right. “I’ll see you later?” she breathed out.

Ashton nodded, “later as in the interview? Or later as in tonight or tomorrow later?”

Iris shrugged, “we’ll figure that out later.” She led Ashton to the door and waved him goodbye as he got in his car. 

A while later, she herself was leaving to go to the studio. She wanted to get there early to help set up. When she got there, Kelsie was immediately stuck by her side. “We got about an hour till it starts,” she said. “You still need makeup— oh do you have the questions?” They stopped outside the green room. Iris handed over the folder that had everything that she needed for the interview. “Awesome! I’ll go give this to Travis and get it into the teleprompter, you go get ready.”

Before Kelsie got too far ahead, Iris yelled out to her. “Wait!” Kelsie turned around. “Tell me when they get here, especially the one with the curly brown hair.”

Kelsie laughed, “You’re gonna need to to learn their names before we start filming y’know? And the curly brown hair? That one’s Ashton.” She spun into her heel and continued down the hall.

“Oh believe me,” Iris mumbled to herself, “I know.”


	11. Chapter 11

As surprising as it was, Ashton was not the first of the bandmates to get to the studio. Luke had arrived twenty minutes before his call time on pure accident. 

He sat in the waiting room for around five minutes before a woman carrying a folder spotted him. “Excuse me, you’re Luke Hemmings right?” She asked, pointing. He nodded. “Are any of your other band members here yet?”

“No.” He shook his head, “I just got here early and now I’m just sitting here, I guess.”

“Okay,” the woman nodded along. “Well my name is Kelsie, I’m the producer here. I can take you to the green room now while the others show up,” she said and started walking back into the hall she originally came from. Luke decided to follow her since she spoke like she was telling him to.

Down the hall, past many doors, Kelsie dropped him off by a room that had a few mirrors and a couple sofas. There was a tv hanging in the corner. Sitting at one of the mirrors, he recognized the host. It looked like she was just finishing her makeup, she glanced at Luke in the mirror and smiled. “Hi,” she greeted, “I’ll be with you in a second,” she said. She threw whatever products she had into a small bag and stood up. She came up to him and stuck out her hand, “Iris Haynes.”

“Luke Hemmings,” he replied, returning the shake, “nice to meet you.”

“You too,” she said. “Now I’m going head over to the—“

“Iris, I found more of them,” Kelsie walked up to them, this time Calum and Michael were behind her.

“There’s supposed to be four,” Iris pointed out, not quite thrilled that Ashton was the last one to arrive. “Anyways, Kelsie, can you take them? I gotta go check on something.” 

Kelsie looked at the three who were just awkwardly standing in the hallway. “Okay, lets go. Didn’t know my job turned into being a tour guide.”

“If it makes you feel better,” Calum spoke up, “I think you’re a wonderful tour guide.”

Kelsie led them down into a room that had a big window looking out at another room with a couch, a chair and a coffee table. “You guys can just hang here while we set up.” She pointed back at the cameras where a girl was currently going back and forth checking each screen. “We’re gonna start recording in about fifteen minutes so hang tight.” She then walked out to leave the boys alone.

Calum was the first of the three to say anything. “So,” he started, “where’s Ashton?”

“Car trouble?” Michael joked, then earning a harsh glare from Calum. “Okay then, I don’t know. Have some humour, Cal.”

Luke walked over to the screen with all the different camera shots. He watched as a couple zoomed in and came into focus. One of them began to pan across the room where it was no longer pointed at the couch, but pointed at him through the window. He looked up and saw the same girl that was working on the cameras before. She waved a bit before turning the camera back to its original shot. 

“Well that was cute,” Michael commented. Luke looked over at them, well aware that they had seen the small interaction.


	12. Chapter 12

Ashton and Iris had shown up just a few minutes before they were scheduled to start recording. Though Iris had a few more things that she needed to finish, Ashton wasn’t the most eager to leave her. “Ash, you’re cute but I gotta do my job. Go sit with the rest of your mates and I’ll be in there soon to talk.”

Ashton rubbed her hand as she was going through pieces of paper. “Yes, Ms. Haynes,” he said with a bit of humor. He walked out of the room, catching a glance of Iris. In the next room over, Calum was sitting on the couch, on his phone. Michael was sitting on the arm talking to Luke as he looked over into the other room, through the window.

“What’s happening?” Ashton asked as he sat next to Calum. 

Calum looked up, “Luke had a moment with the videographer. He thinks they connected.”

“Did they?” Ashton asked. Calum shrugged and went back on his phone. He watched Michael try to explain the most simple way of asking the girl out but Luke seemed too nervous even for even the most basic of things.

“The man can sing in front of thousands of people but can’t ask a damn girl out,” Michael sighed. “Ashton, you got with a girl, right? Help him ask her out.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to help him with this one,” Ashton confesses. Iris walked out, easily gaining his attention. “And I’m not quite sure how I got so lucky with my girl.”

“Hey guys, you ready?” She asked, interrupting their conversation that was most likely to continue afterwards. They all nodded in response and sat on the couch as she sat on the chair. The teleprompter flickered to life, displaying a few words that Iris was no doubtly going to read from soon.

“Three… Two… One…” The red light on the camera had turned on. Iris faced the camera and put on a smile. “Hello, my name is Iris Haynes of Tunes News and we are here today with 5 Seconds Of Summer,” Iris started, “how are you guys doing?”

The interview had continued on for a bit, Iris had asked each of the members multiple questions. Whenever it came to Ashtons turn to answer, she couldn't help but stare and admire him. She made a few mental notes to tell Kelsie to change those camera shots in post production. 

When Iris had closed off the interview, the red light had turned off. She lets out a long sigh, switching off from interviewer mode and back to herself. “Thank you guys for coming today, it means a lot.”

“Yeah, sure thing, do you know the girl who works the cameras?” Luke cut in, before Ashton had even opened his mouth. “Y’know, the one who’s sitting by the computer— Oh my god she’s looking at me.”

Iris looked over to where Luke was and raised her eyebrow. “That’s Mo,” she said.

“Mo, Luke wants your number!” Michael yelled out. A few people looked up from their work stations and to the girl who was now focused on Luke. “Go get her, mate,” he said, sending Luke a thumbs up.

“Okay, so while Luke goes do that,” Calum said, “Ashton, properly introduce us to your girlfriend.” Michael looked at the two, as if something had finally clicked in his brain. “I mean I’m only assuming you’re dating this Iris cause you keep looking at each other like you're sharing the biggest inside joke.”

Ashton shifted uncomfortably. “Oh, I wouldn't say we’re quite dating yet—”

“Why not?” Iris cut in. “We’ve gone on a date. And we’re going to go on more right?”

“Well yeah, I was just hoping I could ask you to be my girlfriend in a…” He looks around, “ different setting.”

“Oh,” she said, “what are you doing later?”

“I feel like you already know the answer to that.”


	13. Chapter 13

“And walking out the front door, we have Ms. Iris Haynes,” Ashton yelled out from his car. It had been a few hours after the interview and the two couldn’t be more eager to see each other again. “Look at her stroll over to the passenger seat, an absolute stunner, isn’t she?”

“You’re adorable,” she said, opening the door and sliding into the seat next to Ashton. “So, where are we headed Mr. Ashton Irwin? I hope you changed your car battery this past week.

Ashton grinned and faced the road in front of him. “I did change the battery, don’t worry. We are headed to wherever this car is taking us. And that would be any restaurant of your choice but please keep in mind that we are just taking food to go because I have something planned.”

“Okay, perfect. Take the first left,” she said almost immediately. Ashton quickly needed to switch to the left lane and turno on his blinker.

“Are you just going to sit there looking pretty and tell me the directions while I drive?” Ashton asks.

Iris laughed, “precisely. I’m also turning on music. Do you mind if I snatch the aux cord?”

“Go ahead.” It was seconds after he said those words when he regretted it. “Iris, don’t you dare—“

“Hey,” Iris sang out loud, “hey, hey!” She ignored Ashtons protests. “Come on! Let me support my favorite drummers band.”

Ashton turned down the volume and glanced at Iris before turning his eyes back to the road. “As honored as I am to be your favorite drummer, we are not listening to my bands songs.”

“Alright fine.” Iris wipes a fake tear away. “Guess I’ll have to play some songs from a band that’s not as cool as yours.” She played shuffle on a random playlist and skipped through songs that were just not the right vibe for their date. “Oh turn right here, the drive through.”

“Are we going to In-n-Out?” Ashton asked. Though they were already pulling up to the drive through, he still felt the need to question it.

“Of course we are. Do you have a problem with it?” She asked.

“No,” Ashton assured, “it’s great.”


	14. Chapter 14

“So, have you ever watched The Princess Bride?” Iris asked. She sat in her seat with the food in her lap, the majority of it already eaten by the two.

“Who hasn’t? It’s a classic,” he said, turning the key to turn off the engine. He sat for a moment, looking out and smiling. “Would you look at that view?” Ashton grinned, looking back and forth from Iris and the setting sun on the horizon. He had parked the car in a spot that overlooked the beach. The sun was casting a beautiful orange light across the sand.

“Oh, I’m looking at my view and I’m not complaining,” Iris said. She closed the car door behind her, a bag of french fries in her hands as she walked over to the boy that couldn’t help but consume her thoughts. “Fry?” She held out the bag to which Ashton took a couple.

They were in a comfortable silence for a while. Just two young people leaning against a car and watching the sun fall. Iris moved her head to rest on Ashtons shoulder. She wasn’t tired or anything, but in that moment it was something that just felt right. And Ashton moved his arm around her waist and made sure that she was close to him.

“Hey, Ash,” Iris spoke softly, looking up at him and finding herself trapped in his gaze. “I know we haven’t known each other for that long but something about you just feels right to me. Sorry if that’s weird or anything, I just needed to say that.”

“I feel the same,” Ashton said, quick to assure her. “Everyone I know is different in their own way and they’re their own person but there’s something about you… I just want to be near you because there’s just something about you.” Iris smiled and nuzzled into Ashton.

“This may sound odd but can I take a picture of you and the sunset? I just— a picture of something almost as pretty as you and you in it. You know?” Iris said. She wanted to stay in this moment forever. She wanted to stay this close to Ashton. She wanted to constantly smell the mixture of his leather jacket and cologne. But she knew that eventually the sun would set and the sky would turn dark, so now she would just have to settle for a photo.

Ashton took off his sunglasses, walking forward and turning around. Right as he looked at Iris he could feel his lips naturally tug upward into a smile. After she took a couple photos he pulled her towards him and took her phone to take a few photos of them both. She giggled at the weird faces he would make, eventually turning and kissing her forehead. “Come on, Irwin, you can kiss better than that,” she taunted, smiling up at him. He put his arm back around her waist and pulled her into a deep kiss. It was something that they didn’t want to let go of and they weren’t planning on leaving it.

“Fuck,” Ashton whispered. Iris moved her hands down from his neck and to his lower back, making him shiver a bit. “Iris, I can't think of a better time to finally have our long walk on the beach.”

“I would love to do that,” Iris said, “but I don’t want the fries to go bad so let’s finish those first.”

Ashton nodded, “as you wish.”


	15. Chapter 15

After a few dances, laughs, and many many kisses, the two decided to call it a night. Iris was shaking the sand out of her shoes when she felt Ashton sneak up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, leaving her no choice but to stay close to him, not that she was complaining or anything. “This is crazy,” she laughed. Just about a week ago she had met this man and since then she felt like she could do anything with him by her side.

“What is?” Ashton asked, he rocked their bodies slowly in the bright lights from the car.

“You just seemed to have shown up in my life at the perfect time.”

Ashton laughed softly, “almost like fate?” He questioned.

“Maybe,” she mused, “maybe my life had finally calmed down enough to let some rockstar in and swoop me away.” She turned her head and pecked him on the cheek. 

“Well I know that I am very grateful for you to be in my life,” Ashton said. He thought that was the end of their conversation until she continued on.

“I really like you Ash. Like a lot,” she said. A creeping thought came to her as if she was scared that their short affair would end.

“Well in that case.” Ashton spun her around so he could look at her better. “You probably have a million reasons to not say yes, but whatever obstacles our lives throw at us, I wanna do it with you, Iris. I wanna call you my girlfriend and watch movies with you and go on dates and just do anything. I wanna be there for you when you’re not feeling one hundred percent or you’re having a tough time. I want to be with you.” He let out a breath, “Iris, will you be my girlfriend?”

She stood looking at him in that moment. The car lights shining against his face. His hair moving in the slow night breeze. Hazel eyes looked down at her in such a way she wished she could wake up to that same sight every morning. Every muscle in her body let the word “yes,” slip out of her mouth and she knows that it was right. Everything in that moment was perfect and they were going to keep everything perfect for as long as they could together.

“Awesome…” he whispered. He took her shoes out her hands and led her to the car. “It’s getting late,” he said, “how about we get going now?” Iris nodded and let him open the door for her. She buckled herself inside as Ashton started up the car. 

“I had a really great night, Ash,” she said smiling at him.

Ashton returned her smile, “I had a great night as well and I’m sure there will be plenty more that’ll be just or even more amazing.”

“I look forward to it.” Iris leaned her head back against the car seat to look at the man that she could proudly call her boyfriend.


	16. Chapter 16

It had been a few weeks since Ashton had asked iris to be his girlfriend. They’d gone on multiple dates and spent a fair share of their free time together. He wasn’t scared to admit that she had occupied the majority of his thoughts, he just wished he knew how to put the right words in a song. Ashton sat at his drum set in the studio, a pad of paper and pen in his lap. He clicked the pen again and again until one of his band mates had to point out that it was getting annoying.

“Ashton, you good buddy?” Michael said from where he sat on the floor. His guitar was in his hands and he tuned it to the right chords.

“He has his thinking face on,” Luke said, “I’m pretty sure he’s thinking.”

“Yeah, but what’s he thinking about?” Calum asked.

Ashton clicked his pen again and started writing. He wrote a few lines and crossed out a couple as well.

“Well his hand is moving so I think it’s safe to say that he’s alive,” Michael pointed out.

Ashton looked up, biting his lip, thinking some more. “Can someone play the Kill My Time demo?”

Calum nodded and went over to the computer. They waited a few seconds before they heard Luke’s voice singing out the words. “Wildflower, fingertips on me…”

“He has the thinking face again,” Luke said.

“Alright.” Ashton put the paper and pen down and looked at his band mates. “I have an idea. A very vague idea but it’s an idea.” He thought more about it. He could imagine the melody and the beat but the lyrics weren’t coming to him just yet. There were a few lines that he was sure about though, some that would best end with the listener to interpret anyway they want.

“Any ideas would be good right now.”

Ashton shuffled in his seat and got ready to explain. “Okay, so imagine if it started out with all our vocals in the beginning like in Red Desert. Then maybe Cal starts off with, ‘I hear you callin’ out my name, I love the sound, I love the taste—‘ then, ‘blah blah blah you’re the only one who makes me’ synth. ‘Every time we’ synth again.”

“I can kinda picture it. I like it,” Luke said, “what’s it about?”

“More like who’s it about?” Michael chimed in.

Calum shook his head, “I think it’s pretty obvious at this point. I’m surprised she’s not giggling on his lap right now.”

Ashton tried to ignore that his cheeks were definitely starting to feel warm. “She’s busy today,” he said, “packing for a trip for work.”

“What does she do for work?” Luke asked. Everyone looked at him in a moment of silence.

“Oh, he was busy flirting with a girl to actually meet her,” Michael said, “Iris was the one that interviewed us a few weeks ago.”

Luke let out an “oh” he looked back at Ashton. “Why didn’t you say anything while I was actually there?”

Ashton shrugged, “we weren’t even dating yet and Calum was the one to point it out.”

“I’m very observant, I knew that they were dating even before they knew themselves,” Calum said. “So, Luke, when are you going to introduce us to your girlfriend?”

“How do you do that?” Luke asked, “I’ve barely talked about her around you guys.”

“You didn’t need to, because I’m observant.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Hypothetically speaking, if I kidnap you and keep you from catching your plane, just for the sole reason of me not wanting you to leave, would you get in trouble?” Ashton asked as the couple stood outside the terminal.

Iris chuckled, “by in trouble do you mean fired?” Ashton nodded. “It would definitely be frowned upon. Kelsie wouldn’t be happy and you going to jail for my disappearance would definitely put some damage on your albums sales.”

“Oh, speaking of the album,” Ashton started, “we only have a few songs left to finish before we get ready to announce it.”

Iris jumped excitedly. “That’s awesome! Oh, I’m so happy for you.”

“I thought you said you weren’t a fan of our music?” Ashton asked.

“I think being your girlfriend gives me a good enough reason to actually listen to your band,” Iris said. “And if the rest of your album is going to be as good as Teeth, then I’m very excited.”

Ashton smiled down at Iris. “I’m gonna miss you. Promise you won’t help out any strangers on the side of the road and give them your number?”

“Yikes,” Iris sighed, “that’s going to be really difficult but I’ll try extra hard to remember just for you.”

“I appreciate that.” Ashton grinned, glancing around. “I’ll pick you when you get back. And if you like, I will maybe even make you dinner.”

Iris raised an eyebrow. “A musician and a cook, huh? I may actually have to let you kidnap me now.”

Ashton nudged her off him. “Come on, as much as I hate it, you have to board soon and I have to go learn how to cook by the time you get back.”

“Okay, okay,” Iris laughed. “See you Friday.” She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek before picking up her suitcase. Ashton pulled her back to him before she got anywhere far and gave her a full kiss on the lips.


	18. Chapter 18

“Ashton, I’m gonna try a lower chord,” Luke said, strumming the guitar in his lap and listening to what sounded well enough. 

“Oh, I like that.”

“Sounds nice, right?” Luke grinned. “I might play this one for Mo later…” he thought for a moment, “yeah, I’m definitely going to play this one for Mo later.”

Ashton smiled, “so things are going well between you?”

“Very well. I’m waiting to properly introduce her to everyone, taking things slow.”

“That’s nice,” Ashton said. He thought about how he and Iris basically did the whole opposite. Only meeting a week before they decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend. They didn’t mind it though, they just knew that something about one another just clicked in the right way.

“How do you think Iris is going to react?” Luke asked, scribbling mindlessly on his notepad.

“To the album? It’d be kind of a bummer if she didn’t like it,” Ashton shrugged.

Luke glanced up at him. “And what about twitter?”

“What happened on twitter?” Ashton asked, already pulling out his phone, guessing that what he was going to see wouldn’t be good.

“Nothing bad,” Luke bit his lip, “well, nothing good. Just a few people talking about— oh you don’t have to look now.” 

But Ashton was already looking and scrolling through his mentions. Apparently someone had taken a couple pictures of him and Iris at the airport the other day and a few fans are trying to figure out who he’s with. “It’ll be alright I think. I just hope she doesn’t get in trouble at work, if there’s some ‘don’t date your interviewees’ kind of policy. Has Mo talked about that yet, or…”

“Her job doesn’t require her to be on camera with the celebrities,” Luke said. 

“She’ll be fine,” Ashton said as he scrolled down more, second guessing for a moment. “No, yeah, her whole job is mostly social media, she knows how to handle it,” Ashton said mostly to convince himself that she’ll be okay. He checked the time assuming that because of the time difference, she should be sleeping now.

No matter the time difference, he sent Iris a goodnight text. He looked over to Luke who was now plucking the guitar and glancing at the notepad every once in a while. And Ashton sat there on his couch wondering why he hadn’t even thought of the fact that he and Iris may need to be more careful in public. He’ll just see how things go when he picks her up from the airport in a few days.


	19. Chapter 19

After a miserable week of work, interviews, reports, and all of the fun stuff Iris liked to call her job; she could finally hop on a plane home. She spent the majority of the flight anxiously bouncing in her seat. 

When the plane landed, she took her phone off of airplane mode and was immediately flooded with notifications, one from Ashton stuck out, asking if she liked fish fingers. She smiled and typed out an “of course :)” in text.

She also looked through a few of her twitter notifications, wondering why she had a lot more activity than usual. Iris did spend the most of the week interviewing bands and artists so unless they tweeted about the interview, she shouldn’t have been receiving half as many mentions as she was getting. She didn’t have time to look too deep into anything before she had to grab her luggage and make her way down the aisle and off the plane. 

Immediately out of the gate, she saw Ashton standing off to the side, probably matching a smile as wide as hers. She dragged her luggage with her as she quickly ran into a hug. 

Ashton was going to tell her that he missed her but before he could even speak, Iris’ lips were already on his. He let out a little giggle that caught her by surprise. 

She pulled back from his face and looked him up and down, admiring his whole ‘woke up five minutes ago and couldn’t be bothered to style anything but the hair’ look. “You’re cute,” she said, running a hand through his hair, “and I’m hungry.”

“I have food at my place,” he chuckled, “unless you want to head back to yours and get settled back in.” He took his phone out of his back pocket to check the time. Iris smiled when she noticed his lock screen wallpaper, the night they were kissing in front of a sunset and never wanting to let go of one another. 

Iris shook her head, “I don’t mind going back to your place, as long as you don’t mind me smelling like an airport.”

Ashton picked up her luggage, despite her small protests. He slung her backpack over his shoulder and took her hand in his. “I don’t mind anything. If you’d like, you can take a shower when we get to my house. While you do that I can also make dinner.”

“Fish fingers,” Iris stated, recalling back to the text she got earlier, “can’t wait.”

***  
“You can leave your bags on my bed,” Ashton said as he locked the front door behind him. “My room is down the hall with a bathroom. I’ll go get you a towel and get started on dinner.”

Iris nodded and tried to navigate her way through Ashtons simple directions. Eventually leading her to be standing beside the shower with a puzzled look. She waited a while before Ashton came in with a towel.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Uh- I don't know how to turn on the water.” Iris smiled sheepishly.

Ashton set the towel down on the counter and went over to her. He pushed in the handle and turned it, water soon following out of the shower head. He looked over to Iris who already let her hair down and was taking off her pants. “If you need anything, you can just yell out my name,” he said, trying his best to keep his eyes on the floor or to the wall.

“Ash?” 

“Yeah babe,” Ashton said, still managing to look away. 

“Do you wanna join me?” She asked. 

Ashton now started to give up and looked at her. His whole body felt the urge to go and make out with her as she wore no clothes, but the gentleman in him kept himself frozen in place. “Do you want me to join you?” He asked,

“I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t.” And that was enough to make the gentleman go to rest. He went over and smashed his lips against her. She unbuttoned his jeans as he took off his shirt. “You’re hot,” was all Iris said when they took a moment to get in the shower.

Ashton scoffed, “an honor coming from the most beautiful woman—“ and Iris put her lips back on his. 

They spent more time making out than actually showering, but that didn’t bother them. All that mattered in that moment was each other.


	20. Chapter 20

The following morning, Iris had woken up to the sun bright and shining through the bedroom window, Ashton mumbling a few incoherent words to her as she laid wrapped in his arms.

“Iris,” Ashton whispered, “someone’s calling you.”

She groaned, moving his arms off her, and getting up. Iris grabbed her phone that was sitting on her suitcase, charging on a nearby outlet. “Kelsie, what do you want?” She asked, running her hands through her disheveled hair.

Ashton sat up in bed. He noticed the change in Iris’s attitude almost immediately. He could tell that whatever conversation she was having at the moment, he probably shouldn’t listen to it. 

Iris smiled at him apologetically as he left the room, saying something about getting coffee. She then turned her attention back to her rambling friend, “what are you talking about?” Iris asked. 

“A picture of you and Ashton Irwin has been going around and I have to have a meeting about it with the board, Iris, a fucking meeting.” And now she was scared cause it wasn’t often that she heard her friend this frustrated. “I have an idea of what’s going to happen and I really hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“What’s going to happen?”

“Well most likely, you break off your little affair with him or you get fired.”

Iris was momentarily speechless. “Kelsie, you can’t be serious—“

“Oh I’m dead serious, you are Tunes News main journalist. If artists find out that you’re having a fling with someone that you interviewed, they are going to assume the worst and not want exposure from us.”

“But Kelsie,”

“Iris, I care about you, I swear I do, but please take the clean route out of this,” Kelsie practically begged.

Iris bit her lip as she trapped herself in thought. “I’m not going to—“

“Iris,”

“I really like him,” she stated, “and I’m positive he likes me as well.”

“You’ve only been interacting with him for what? Little over a month?” Kelsie questioned, “just stop it before you both get too invested.”

Iris turned around, hearing a soft knock behind her. She saw Ashton standing in the door frame in his shirtless glory, with two cups in his hands. She could almost feel herself getting seconds away from having a breakdown when he mouthed the word “coffee.”

“Kelsie, I’ve worked for you for like five years, please don’t make me do this,” Iris whispered, looking straight at the one she was scared to lose.

“I know you’ve worked too damn hard to get yourself this far,” Kelsie said, “I know that you’re better than just wasting it all for some boy who will maybe write some radio break up song for you after a few months.” Kelsie hung up soon after, leaving Iris in the silent room with Ashton.

Iris knew what was going to happen next. She was going to break up with him and then immediately go home and cry for however long she felt like. Then she was going to call in sick for the next two days of work because she apparently “got sick when she was out on her business trip” and then probably going to cry some more.

“Ashton,” she started, feeling tears already spilling from her eyes. “I'm so sorry,” was all she could manage before Ashton put down the two cups and engulfed her in a hug. “I really like you, but I can’t or else I get fired and I really like my job and I really like you. And fuck you!” She sobbed, “you’re still hugging me even though I’m an emotional mess that’s trying to break up with you.”

“You’re okay,” Ashton laughed to brighten her mood. “I get it, it’s okay.” He didn’t get it and it wasn’t okay. “I really like you too, but I’d never want you to sacrifice anything to be with me. We can always be friends, right?” He asked hopefully.

“Yeah,” Iris sniffed, “yeah we can be friends.”


	21. Chapter 21

“I mean, do you think he’s home?” Michael asked, looking through the windows, peeking into his bandmates home.

“Why wouldn’t he be home?” Calum questioned.

“Well maybe he could be out or something,” Luke suggested.

“Ashton? Out of the house by eight in the morning? Come on, you must be kidding,” Michael scoffed.

“I’m just saying that you both could be blowing this whole thing out of proportion,” Calum shrugged, “he’s probably fine?”

“Why would you say that like a question?” Michael asked. 

“I don’t know, he really liked the girl. Even if it was a few weeks he was still really happy with her,” Calum said. 

After a while of knocking, calling, and ringing the doorbell, Calum took it into his own hands and grabbed the key that he hid under the few rocks in the front yard. He turned it in the lock and the door opened. “What?” He asked, glancing back at Luke and Michael who wore dumbfounded expressions. 

“You couldn’t have unlocked the door twenty minutes ago?” Luke asked.

“Well, one, I just remembered where the key was hidden like twenty seconds ago,” Calum said, “and two, it’s rude to break into people’s homes.”

“Let’s just check on Ashton,” Michael pushes his way into his friends house, heading straight to the bedroom. 

Calum goes straight to the office where he could hear the faint sound of drums, Luke following closely. They crack the door open just enough to see Ashton playing, his headphones probably blasting music at full volume. “Well he looks fine to me,” Luke says.

Ashton continued on playing for a while, until he looked up and jumped. He ripped off his headphones and got up to open the door fully. “What the hell?! How long have you guys been there?” He asked.

Luke and Calum looked at one another wondering what the right thing to say is. “Not long,” Luke started, “we were outside for a while and then Calum broke in.”

“I locked the door behind me so at least I broke in respectfully,” Calum defended.

“Oh thank goodness. Wouldn’t want anyone else to break in,” Ashton said in a sarcastic tone.

“Yeah, well Michael brought food but he kind of disappeared so we don’t really know where he went and your best buds, Luke and I, are here so we can have some bro time, y’know?”  
Ashton looked confused back and forth between the two. He then rested his stare on Luke, “did Mo tell you?” he asked. Luke nodded subtly. “Well, thank you guys for checking on me, but I'm fine,” he said, “Iris and I are still friends so it’s not like we lost anything.”

Calum gave him a look telling him that he was not impressed. “Whatever you feel or anything, just know that you have three uneducated therapists at your disposal.” He smiled knowing that he got a laugh out of his friend.

“Okay, well I’m going to go look for Michael, cause you said something about food.” As Ashton left them down the hall, Calum and Luke shared a look that said they weren't convinced that he was fine.


	22. Chapter 22

It had been more than a few weeks since all the rumors started. Iris and Ashton had barely kept in contact at all which hurt them both more than they thought it would. Ashton had kept himself busy with the upcoming album that was bound to be released soon. Iris on the other hand was sending out her resume to find a job that was less constricting for her.

The two made the obstacles in their relationship to give themselves a solid reason on why they were too busy for one another.

Ashtons list of why they weren’t good for eachother was very short and simple. “Would rather finish a meal before going on a walk with me.” Apparently that moment had stuck with him.

For Iris, all of the reasons had something to do with her current job. Once she quit and was somewhere that gave less than shit about who she dated, she would try to go back to Ashton, hoping that some other girl hasnt swept him away in the past few weeks.

“Delivery for Iris Haynes?” Iris looked up from her computer to be met with half of 5 Seconds of Summer. Luke and Calum stood there with a coffee tray and nervous smiles. \

“Hi?” she said, confused on why they were there, “do you need anything?”

“Well,” Calum took a coffee from the tray and put it on her desk. “We brought you coffee. And Luke is going to tell you that you're invited to the album release party.”

“That is of course if your boss allows that or something,” Luke interjected.

“I don't see why I can't go. Ashton and I are friends so it’s not like we’re going to be making out in the corner. Plus it will be nice to see him, we haven't really seen each other in a while.”

“In a while, you mean weeks. Like a literal eternity. Like you two made a combined effort to not stay in contact after you broke up.” Calum said.

“Okay, Cal, you're going to venture around the office and not bother anyone as I talk to Iris and not judge her relationship with our best friend.”

Calum huffed and left the two to themselves. Iris watched him head off, assuming that he would get lost or bump into someone that she wouldn't want to talk to at the moment, aka her boss. She looked back over at Luke who was still holding the coffee tray, seeing that there was one other coffee on it. “That last one for Mo?” she asked.

Luke looked down and nodded shyly. “Yeah, she’s recording right now so I’m kinda just waiting here for her to finish.”

“So I’m your second option on cool girls you want to hang out with?”

“Oh, come on. Don't say it like that, she’s my girlfriend, it should be common information at this point that I want to spend all my time with her,” Luke whined.

Iris laughed, “well thank you for the coffee. I’m pretty sure Mo finishes at nine, so that would be about ten-ish minutes?” she guessed. Calum eventually came back with a big smile plastered on his face. “What’s got you so happy?” 

Calum shared something on his phone with Luke who raised his eyebrows in response. “Someone finally got a girls number after months of flirting,” he scoffed.

Iris gasped, “what is it with you guys hitting on some poor unfortunate girl at my work?” 

“I’m just saying,” Calum defended, “I flirted with her once, we kissed, and then she didn't give me any time of the day. This is a huge step up for me.”

“And we’re proud of you, Calum, want to get ice cream to celebrate?” Luke said sarcastically. 

Iris chuckled at the two, “anyways, I should get back to work before my boss gives me more reasons to hate her.”

“You should invite her to the party. Gives you two time to make up and be friends,” Calum suggested, “bond together. Y’know?”

“Yeah I know,” Iris said, “I’ll consider it Nice seeing you two.”


	23. Chapter 23

“So, you’re not mad at me anymore?” Kelsie stood in front of Iris feeling bad for the past few weeks. 

“No, I’m still pissed as hell,” Iris said, crossing her arms in front of her body, “but you’re also one of my best friends and I rather you as a friend than a boss.” She had invited her over a few hours before the album release party, hoping that they could make up and get ready together.

“Luckily for both of us, I won’t be your boss for much longer,” Kelsie joked quietly. “You’re going to be so much better off at a different network.”

“I hope,” Iris said, “I haven’t really gotten much response for my interviews. I may even be stuck at Tunes News for another year.”

Kelsie’s eyes widened, “anyone would be crazy not to take you. And I don't know if it will help, but I can write a reference if you’d like?”

”Wow, you’re really trying to get rid of me fast,” Iris laughed.

“As your friend I want you to be happy. As your boss, however, I’m gonna miss someone as hardworking as you.”

“Okay, shut up. I love you. Now will you help me get ready for the party?” Iris dragged her in.

“Oh god, you’re giving me flashbacks to college Iris,” Kelsie replied dramatically. She thought about the many times her friend had made some ridiculous choices a few years back and how she would always wake up the morning after regretting everything.

“Hot and smart?” Iris guessed.

“Hot and stupid,” Kelsie corrected.

Iris gasped, “I have a curling iron ready to burn you.”

“You would never,” Kelsie taunted.

***

It was only after the girls had finished getting ready and were on their way to the party when Iris got a call. “Kelsie, oh my god,” she nearly screamed, causing Kelsie to swerve on the road a bit in fright.

“What the fuck was that?” Kelsie yelled back. Her heart rate struggling to get back to normal.

“I got the job,” Iris squealed. “Less travel, less controversy, less commute,” she began listing off the benefits, “and way better pay.”

“And a rockstar boyfriend,” Kelsie added. “I’m expecting your letter of resignation Monday morning.”

Iris’s eyes widened at the thought. “I need to get back with Ashton. Oh I’m so stupid why haven’t I texted him,” she groaned, “god I’m the worst ex girlfriend.”

“As I mentioned before, you’re hot and stupid.”


	24. Chapter 24

“If you continue staring at her like that, you’re going to burn holes into her head, mate.” Calum walked up to Ashton with a hesitant smile. “You know you could always just go up and talk to her?”

Ashton shook his head. “No, I’m probably just going to get drunk and wake up in the morning to forget that I ever saw her in the first place.”

Calum frowned, “Ashton,” he said, “that's not how you get back together with her. Talking is one of the few steps you have to take.”

“I can’t get back together with her,” Ashton sighed. He put his head in his hands mumbling out intelligible words. “And what if she’s moved on by now? I mean it hasn't been that long but we also haven't spoken, she could probably have another boyfriend for all I know.”

“I’m sorry to break the news to you, Ash,” Calum said, “but you’re an idiot.”

“I just want to go home, Cal.”

Calum looked around awkwardly, “it’s only seven thirty.”

“Fuck…” Ashton dragged out. He looked up and suddenly, from across the room, locked eyes with the one person he was most internally conflicted with. “I’m gonna go.” He ducked away from his friend and ran somewhere hidden by the crowd.

Calum stood confused as to where Ashton went until Iris and Keslie came up to him. “Hey, Iris,” he greeted, “how are you doing?”

Iris smiled at him, “I’ve been good,” she chuckled, “so it’s been a while.”

“More like a couple days,” he nodded along, wondering why Ashton couldn’t just man up and talk to the girl. ”If you’re looking for that wild drummer, stake out at the drinks table, you might catch sight of him a few times.”

Iris frowned, “he left the room when he looked at me. Does he not want to talk to me that badly?”

“He’s Ashton,” Calum shrugged, “now my arm candy kinda ran off, I was hoping I could switch with you.”

Iris looked over Kelsie who nodded. “Alright well I’ll be back soon after I find him.” She casted questioning look at Kelsie and Calum.

***

It took a bit of the night to find Ashton sitting outside, beside a fire pit. He swirled around the liquid in his cup, mesmerized by how oddly satisfying it was. He wasn’t aware of Iriss presence until he heard her voice from behind him. 

“Why are you avoiding me?” She asked, sitting right down next to him.

“Because,” Ashton said. “I’m scared that I’m going to get attached to you again and then I’m going to be hit with the harsh reality that we have to be limited to friends.”

”Right to the point, I see how it is.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I’m transferring to a different network. I’ll be a journalist who only travels in Los Angeles. Meaning I'll be home more and only have to go into the office during weekdays,” Iris explains.

“So what I'm hearing is…” Ashton put his drink down, looking at her.

“I’m free to date whoever the hell I want and you, sir,” she gestured, “are number one on my list.”

“Well I should hope so,” Ashton commented, “I don’t think anyone wants to be with you as much as I do.”

“I think it’s going to be pretty difficult to top how much I want to be with you.”

Ashton scoffed. “I doubt it, you’re literally the definition of perfect—“

“But, Ashton, I love you.”

Ashton froze, looking at her in the small firelight, searching her eyes as if she could be serious. She was joking in a sick way that would only leave Ashton a lot more drunk than he had planned to be by the end of the night. But there was no little smirk, and chuckle followed by her words.

He sat next to a girl who had just said that she loved him.

And he loved her too.


End file.
